PACE to hold debate on removing sanctions against Russia

The standing committee of the Parliamentary Assembly
of the Council of Europe received a request to hold debates on removing sanctions
against Russia and renewing its participation in the assembly’s activity. The
debate has been scheduled for the standing committee’s Nov. 24 meeting in
Copenhagen, the eurointegration.com.ua news site reported. The current affairs
debate doesn’t entail that a decision will be based on its conclusions, yet the
discussion is capable of showing whether PACE is prepared to remove sanctions
from Russia during its next session in January, the website said.

U.S. President Trump spoke with Russian President
Putin for an hour on the telephone on Nov. 21 on foreign policy topics,
including Ukraine, Syria and North Korea, reported the Reuters news agency,
citing sources in the White House. No other details were offered. U.S. Senator
John McCain criticized Trump for the phone call, tweeting, “This demonstrates
yet again POTUS mistakenly believes the US & Russia share interests.”

Zenon Zawada: PACE is
seriously considering dropping its sanctions against Russia after its
government announced as early as June that it will cut financing for the
Council of Europe, which in essence has been recognized as Russia’s withdrawal
from the organization. We believe such a decision has the potential to become a
watershed moment in changing the tide in Western policymaking towards relaxing
sanctions against Russia.

Putin is hoping that the European public, particularly
the business community, will get exhausted from the conflict in Ukraine,
particularly the business lost from the sanctions. PACE dropping its sanctions
would be Putin’s first major victory on the sanctions front and will certainly
encourage him to press further in other Western legislative bodies, where the
Far Right parties aligned with him are gradually gaining seats.

Trump will not be able to change U.S. foreign
policy towards Russia, even if he wanted to. He doesn’t have the political
capital, particularly having failed to form a consistent bloc of support within
the U.S. Congress. However, if the tide continues to turn in Russia’s favor in
Europe – which we believe is happening with the rise of Far Right parties –
then Trump might change U.S. foreign policy toward Russia if re-elected to a
second term in 2020.